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Rituals.. Hlut... ect

By: Gunnsmith

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Gday all,

Good thoughts.....

Some in the reawakening have killed animals at a blot.. and I know this is being done in Sweden.. and by Theodish.. and on the note of  us needing to borrow from other traditions because so much of ours is lost...

I don't think so much IS lost. One may consider that the Gods have seem fit to preserve a good deal.. and there is more hidden in language.. barely, as it were beneath sod.. turned up to reveal the runestone  carved as though anew..

Our traditions are scattered, this is true.. as is the case with our people.... to winds... yet all the world we know and our Folk too... many of whom are here with us now.

there was a sense a few years ago that  we had only fragments.... Theodish begs to differ... having found a goodly hoard in the language.. old, middle, and modern English... Anglo Saxon...

Fragments that can be pieced together with a "translation stone".. which, for us is the Folk-Soul.. the living, breathing spirit of our people.

the northern Path is IN us... and it IS us.... what more do we need then.. but the names of the Gods.. the Runes.. gifted to us by Odhinn....

We need not borrow a blade, but forge our own... from the steel of stars and the iron of the earth.... by the sacred, red lakes on Ida Plain.. where the first forge was set up.. and tools made.... by the knowings of our lore, and the blood in our veins.. the strength of arms and the beauty of all we are.....

The Folk Soul is our council.. and the Gods our mentor be....

Mattias in Sweden  says a boar is killed and its blood, mixed with mead [or any good liquor or spirits ] sprinkled on the guests. or placed on the forehead with a thumb...... a great fire is lit and the meat is cooked.. thereafter eaten as a blessing.. and other food, brought by the guests, shared out and each man or woman according to their family way.. says words and pours out a  drink... some dance  and all share in the feast.. honoring all the while the Gods.,. Ancestors.. and the spirits of the land.... the sky... and the waters of the earth...

Theodish, on the other hand, has a much more proscribed ritual........ The Blot animal is first raised by the community... fed.. looked after, petted and observed by each and all.... building as it were, the spiritual energy or luck contained within the animal.. to be released in the proper manner with the single  stroke of a sword.... over a stone properly divined as the most powerful.. in the area.... "Witched out" as it were, by the King or another worthy..

Following are the other rituals..  known only to them.. the purpose of which is to contain and enhance the "luck" released from the blot animal to the community..

after this  the meat is cooked and consumed during the feast.. and all of the remains burnt there, where the blot took place. None of the blot animal  is carried away from the site.

If there are any Theodish here.... please feel free to  comment.... I might add that I speak thus respectfully of the King and Theodish Folk...

So, here are a couple of examples.... informal... formal.. the blot animal dispatched with a shot to the head... or the head severed with a single sword or axe blow. The animal.. so far as I know, is most traditionally a hog, sheep, goat, calf.. cow or bull.... though I suppose a cock [rooster] may be acceptable in a small setting.

I have read that in making Hlut..... Mead is mixed with the animal blood... or "any good booze".. honey may be used as well, mixed with the sacrificial blood.

Sprinkled on the guests with a holly switch... placed on the centre of the  forehead with a thumb, sprinkled on the altar stones....

And at last for the runners of the woods.. or "Woods Tribal".... the killing of a game animal is also a blot .. and deserves a saying of thanks.. often results in  the flow of insight, perhaps a vision or dream.. before or after. The blot animal in this case is  offered by the Gods and the animal or UR spirits.... and  as cleanly dispatched with a rifle or bow...  as possible...

The evisceration best done with a patterned blade of ones own making... but a good, proven blade will do.. and the blood  then  turned back to the earth.. and on the hands.....washed off respectfully

.. a giving of thanks is spontaneously given by the hunter.... an honoring and thanks of the Gods, the Ancestors and the UR spirits

the remains are left for the Ravens...and medicine wolf.....the best of the animal  then taken home, the meat cut up, frozen or dried.....and consumed over a period of months.. and each time a bit of the luck and health passes into those at the feast table as well as a  remembrance and thanks given or certainly thought of, by the hunter.

So there are three ways where a blood blot can be done.... feel free to add to this and give your opinions...

Gunn